Is this a disgrace to the Industry ?

Mgreen27, 

You  are correct. I guess I missed the part of the video that showed that this gizmo still dragged a needle through the grooves.   I saw the banner in the ad that said it played the music without any damage and thought it was based on a laser pickup.

Thus, I was focusing on the fact that a turntable spinning an  LP with cartridge plowing though its grooves is a physical interaction whille laser turntables eliminate the very interaction that makes vinyl so unique  and, in my opinion, special.

Thannks for pointing that out.

Frank

A device that has the potential to grow newcomers into full fledged audiophiles or at least supporters and buyers of vinyl. And this is a disgrace how?

I really enjoy this hobby, but the elitist attitudes rampant on web forums like this will do more to harm "the industry" than some device that converts your precious analog signal to digital.

Get over yourself.

RE:

"This won't be the last 'audio heresy' we'll be subjected to.... One never knows the warp and weft of the future, and what may move us yet again...."

(wisdom! thanks, asvjerry)

For life/situational reasons, my VPI turntable, Grado arm, and Grado cartridge are still in storage (since 1990). I miss that rig--also the ~1500 LPs I used to play on it. Analog is king, in my experience.

Interesting to see some startup trying to capitalize on vinyl, albeit with a technology that doubtless underachieves technically, while pandering to potential buyers' "lifestyle" needs.

If I could get my vinyl rig going again, I'd have to confront the question of how best to digitize my favorite LPs for listening on my current SOA system (desktop audio w/top-quality headphones, DAC, amplification; speaker upgrade coming soon). The technology shown in the video would not be my answer--but that's just me & my tastes.

If I was inclined to be offended by underachieving technologies (ie, as compared to the very best sonic reproduction), I would've been repeatedly & incessantly offended for decades.

I've long since adjusted to the fact that I & my audio tastes are in the minority. But as long as others don't mess with me, it matters little. The money I spend on audio that meets my own standards comes from my wallet--no one else's.

I HATE the LOVE table!  Whatevs, LOL, BRB, YOLO.......dig?

My first reaction was: what an abomination! Then I noticed that the project already got funded by a quater-mil dollars and realized that I must have a Lot of insecurities (I do!).  A few months ago we discussed Levitating TT, now they have platter-less and wall-hugging TTs on Kickstart, they all look real Cool. I am all for "lifestyle" products (thats how I started my audio journey) but this contraption which looks like a cordless phone is not one of those. And it is rotating counter-clockwise which is totally bad for your  Feng Shui!! Proceed with caution ;-)

you guys mentioned that something similar was done with VW minivan? Any links or keywords so that noncompoops like me could take a look?

digitizing my vinyl collection is still a concept I canNot comprehend. Why? Just ask your kids how to join bittorent community and download anything you want. Free, quick, and you wont have the nightmares (as I had today) of a cordless phone going round and round (counterclockwise!) in front of you